A Maryland man paid 85 years' worth of overdue book fees accrued by his parents from the 1970s.

Jon Kramer wrote the Montgomery County Public Libraries a check for $1,552.30 in November for titles "365 Meatless Main Dishes" and "The New Way of the Wilderness." The two books were overdue by 85 years combined, according to his calculation.

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"I am uncertain of the precise formula you would use to calculate such a fine but I seem to recall that in the mid 1970s the late fee was on the order of $0.05/day. At the present time the two books above have been late by a collective 85 years, or approximately 31,046 days. I have therefore calculated a late fee of $1,552.3 which is enclosed herein," Kramer, now living in Minnesota, wrote in a letter to the library on Thanksgiving Day last month.

"Our parents died some years ago but, as is often the case with such things, it has taken awhile for my siblings and I to sort through the artifacts they left behind," he continued. "On a recent trip to the family homestead in southern Ontario I discovered a bounty of books I had hitherto not especially noticed due to the fact that they’ve molded into our family historic furnishings to the point that they’ve become a naturalized part of our home."

Kramer said his parents strongly valued honesty and responsibility, which is why he decided to pay the library fines forty-some years later.

The 59-year-old's generous check will be treated as a donation to the Twinbrook Library in Maryland. Parker Hamilton, Director of the county's public libraries, said the money will be spent on cookbooks and wilderness guides to honor Kramer's parents.

"One of the things that’s always been important in our family is the opportunity to avail ourselves of education and to be able to use the library system basically for free is one of the great attributes of being American,” Kramer told Bethesa Magazine last week.